


Ghosts of the future past

by nams_lums



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, They all grow up together, jedis are cops, sith are corrupted cops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-21 22:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6060418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nams_lums/pseuds/nams_lums
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey recognizes Ben Solo, her former foster brother, in a cafe one day. Except he's not really Ben, anymore. And he really really really didn't want Rey, otherwise known as the main investigator in the Knights of Ren investigation, also known as the first girl he had a crush on, to know what he had been up too in the last few years. </p><p>Or Ben is royally screwed and he's not sure he cares, cause, you know, Rey's back in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ben, is that you ?

**Author's Note:**

> Here is a little thing that came to me while listening to Ghost by Halsey, and since I'm such a TFA (everytime I read my work software name which is FNA I read FN awakens and not Fiducial Notaires Actes, I'm obsessed) and especially Reylo trash, I thought of them, and it has nothing to do with the song anymore but well, whatever, at least this one is out of my system. 
> 
> Enjoy !

« Oh my God, Ben Solo, is that you ? »

 _Oh shit_.

The tall, dark haired man tried to pretend like he hadn't heard. Like he wasn't the Ben Solo that was called out. But if he had correctly recognized the voice, the girl it belonged to knew _exactly_ who he was.

« It _is_ you ! »

She was behind the counter in the little coffee shop, and she jumped above it, and ran towards him. She hugged his waist so tight it felt like coming home.

« Hello pumpkin »

She laughed and her head rose to meet his eyes.

« Hi scourge »

He smiled, and a cough reminded him that Hux and Phasma had accompagnied him. He gave them a _please-play-along_ look and they slightly nodded.

They separated and started talking like they'd never been apart.

« So, what is it exactly that you do ? Are you really a waitress here ? »

« Oh no, I'm a Jedi, like we always said we'd be ! »

 _Oh shit._ Hux snorted. Ben glared at him.

« I just work here on my free time, my adoptive mom Maz is the owner, I help out whenever I can, sometimes just for fun ».

Something clicked inside Ben's mind. _Oh shit._

« I took her name you know, when she formally adopted me. I needed one to apply to the Academy anyway. »

He could see Hux's brain click. Phasma had probably caught up when he did, but Huw always was the slowest of them. But he finally made the connection.

« Wait, _you're_ Jedi Kanata ? »

 _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit_.

« Yeah, why ? »

« You're famous ! Ben, you never told us you knew the _famous_ Internal Affairs jedi Kanata ! »

Rey's smile was so bright it hurt. She looked so proud of herself.

« Well, I didn't know it was her, for my defense she kind of left in the dark of night not telling me she had been adopted by a woman that lived in another city ».

 _Oh shit_. He didn't mean to sound so harsh, really, he didn't. But at least she had lost that infuriating smile.

Still, the _famous_ jedi Kanata was investigating the Knights of Ren, a crew of rogue corrupted jedis who were trying to tear down the Republic from the inside of its justice system for the First Order, an extremist party born from the ashes of the Sith Order, which had ruled the world for a long time before hiw own parents and uncles had put an end to it. As it happened, Ben's aka Kylo Ren was the leader of the Knights of Ren, Phasma was his second in command and Hux was his connection to Supreme Leader Snoke.

Of all the coffee shops in all of the world he had to walk into hers.

For the uptenth time in a few minutes the only thing that came to his mind was _oh shit_.

* * *

It had all started with Ben's grandfather, if one wanted to take it from the real beginning. Ben and Rey's story had started much later, but what became of them would probably have been different if it were not for the events that had started it all fifty years ago.

Anakin Skywalker was a young prodigy of the Jedi Academy, the police force's school. The world was ruled by the republic and the jedis made sure peace was kept. Anakin had fallen in love with Padme Amidala, the rising star of the Senate, and they had gotten married in her homecountry of Naboo, as was the tradition.

It had been good, for a while, until Padme had gotten pregnant with their first child.

Arround the same time, an ancient army called the Sith had decided they wanted to take power over the world. Anakin, then a strong Jedi Kight, had been sent undercover in their ranks to try and stop them. Little did he know that the senate had already been infiltrated as well, and that his most trusted advisor was his worst ennemy. Torn between allegiences and trying to protect his burgeonning family, he had stumbled one time too much and had become Darth Vador, the right hand man of the very being he was trying to kill.

For twenty years, the world became a military state, ruled by a powerful army of white armored soldiers.

For twenty years, Anakin, now Darth Vador, didn't know that his wife had survived childbirth to give life not only to a boy named Luke, but also to a girl named Leia.

For twenty years, Darth Vador ruled the world not knowing he already had the very thing he craved, a family.

* * *

Kylo Ren, Hux and Phasma had left Katana's Kantina rapidely, and hadn't talked about it until they were before their master, Supreme Leader Snoke.

The scarred man knew all about _Ben Solo_ 's past, and was very pleased with the turn of events.

_Really ? Oh shit. He'll want me to …_

« Yes, Master of the Knights of Ren. You'll infiltrate the investigation. You'll infiltrate the girl if you have to. She's the best chance we have at finding out what they know. Besides, your supposed to work for them so it wouldn't be weird for two colleagues to share secrets about their own investigations, even if it has to be during pillow talk, am I making myself clear ? »

« Yes master »

« Good. You may start tomorrow. I'll find a way».

_Oh shit._

He made his way out of the conference room and went to his office in the 55th precinct. He wasn't curently working on a case so he started on his paperwork absentmindedly. He couldn't stop thinking about her, about his new mission. He'd have to spend more time with Rey and that alone gave him goosebumps. He was so screwed...

* * *

Luke and Leia grew up appart, in different foster families. They didn't even know they had each other for twenty years, until they met by chance after Luke enlisted in the Jedi Academy, and Leia became an ambassador for her hometown of Alderaan.

They met Han Solo on their quest to stop the Sith Empire, and after a few years of war with their own father, they turned him against his own master and finally got to know him. He died a few month after Leia and Han had gotten engaged so the new Jedi commissioner Luke Skywalker walked her down the aisle.

It was an easy life for them afterwards. Luke working on cleaning the police force, Leia on cleaning the politics. Ben was born at a very happy time in their life. Han and Leia opened an orphanage for war orphans, raising them alongside Ben.

However humans being greedy, dark people things are never that easy and after a while a new political party was born called The First Order, led by senator Snoke.

Corruption and murder came again creepling inside the police force. After a few years, the rumor started. The rumors of some sort of cohort of corrupted cops inside the Jedi order. They were called the Knights of Ren, after their shadowy leader Kylo Ren. Everyone knew they were there, but no one close enough was willing to talk or were killed before they could and it stayed that way until Jedi Kanata came along. She had a knack for making people talk, like she could get into their mind. She arrested the small guys, calling it rescuing them. No one knew were she came from, but she was good, and she quickly became the specialist on First Order cases.

* * *

Jedi Solo shouldn't have been surprised when he saw her bending under the yellow tape to get to his crime scene that day. He knew Snoke was planning something to force a new meeting and get him into a social circle again.

She had a paper cup of coffee in one hand and smiling as if a murder was the best gift she'd ever received. She barely stopped when she saw him and greeted him with a glint in her eye.

“Jedi Solo, nice to see you again”

“Likewise, Jedi Kanata, what brings you here ?”

“Oh you know, the usual, boss wants me to investigate outside of my big case from time to time so he sends me to get things done in minor stuff, like a cop killing a murder suspect. What's your excuse ?”

“Investigating the original murder, you know, just to be sure the guy your suspect killed was the right guy”

“Guess you're stuck with me then, that'll be fun”

He smiled. It was an easy thing, really, a petty drug dealer killed by his client so he didn't have to pay. Classic.

The cop under Snoke's payroll had killed him in front of people, after summoning him to drop his gun. He hadn't, the cop had felt threatened, had shot him. Rey really had been called as routine, it was almost just paperwork because Jedi Commissioner Skywalker wanted things to be by the book.

But it was a good way to make them meet again.

After she had finished, she came to him.

“Do you want to go to Maz' ? She makes a mean coffee. You'll love it ! Besides, Finn's shift is today, and Poe might stop by, he's on leave, it would be a good way for you to see them, they've been dying to see you since I told them I saw you”.

He smiled. With someone as open as Rey, she was an easy mark, and he might not even have to get into her bed to get her talking. He followed her to her car, an orange uglyness.

“Can't you afford something better ?”

“Yes I can, but my Wing is in the shop, so Poe lent me BB. That's what he calls it.”

Of course the car was Poe's. Guy had been obsessed with the color orange since before they met. Ben didn't know they had kept in touch. He had guessed she might still be in touch with Finn, they had been adopted by the same woman, after all, but Poe had left the orphanage long before that. So it was a surprise, even though it was a nice one. He was actually more surprised he was happy to see them.

They made their way to the cantina in comfortable silence. They had always been able to share a space whithout speaking, because most of the time they knew what each other were thinking.

She parked the car in a reserved spot, and entered through the back door. A small woman with huge glasses greeted them with hugs and Rey led them to the dining room, where they sat in a corner.

Finn spoted them and came to their side.

“Hi Ben, been a long time”

“Yeah I guess, how are things ?”

“Well, you know, good. I've been working here for a while, since I wasn't cut out to become a Jedi like you and Rey, Maz said I'll take over when she retires, which means when she dies, but that's okay, I'm not ready yet”.

“You actually tried to be a Jedi ?”

The siblings laughed. Rey had tears in her eyes, Finn snorted, trying to sound offended.

“Oh yeah, he tried. He was really good at shooting things but that was about it. He lasted two weeks at the Academy before he dropped out”.

Ben turned to the guy who had spoken. Dark curly hair, bright smile, brown leather jacket. Poe Dameron had joined them.

Rey stood up and ran to him. He took her in his arms, sending her flying while they turned arround laughing.

“Poe ! You're back !”

Curiously, Ben felt a pang of jealousy, that lasted about five seconds. Because as soon as Rey was down, Poe's hand was on Finn's cheek, they shared a look.

“Surprise, I got leave to see you” he said softly.

“I should've guessed, given how Rey was excited lately”

They smiled, and shared a small kiss. A new sort of jealousy coursed through Ben. He wished he could kiss his loved one like that, so freely. But he couldn't, so he just smiled under Rey's watchfull eyes.

Keeping his arm arround Finn's waist, Poe shook his hand and sat next to Ben.

“So, what can I get you guys ?”

“Surprise us, lover boy”

The meal went great. It felt like coming home. They had been his family for so long, before, that he almost didn't have to fake his laugh. When he realized he felt really happy arround those people, his heart gave out.

 _Oh shit_. He really didn't want to have to betray them, when it as all over. He really wished that Rey was never going to talk to him, so that he wouldn't have to leave. He was screwed all over again.

* * *

Ben and Rey grew up together. Little five years old Rey was the new arrival at his parents' orphanage. She was the daughter of some friends of his parents. She was the last child to join them. He was ten. He hated her, that little ball of light always following him arround. She was always so happy and his teenage self was always brooding, always angry at the world. He was already on the verge of falling on a much darker path by then.

Except that she pulled him up. She made him start talking to their foster brothers Finn and Poe, and together they had great years.

They were her brothers, but he was her favorite person in the whole world. After a while, they became more than just friends. It was tentative at first. It felt natural though. They'd always been really touchy friends, but she was that way with Finn and Poe too. But they'd be holding hands in public, kissing on cheeks to say hello or goodbye. One day they kissed.

Rey had had a realy bad day. She'd had her periods for the first time and growing up with mostly boys she didn't know what was happening. Ben didn't know what to do, so he brought her to his mom, who explained everything to her, and then told Ben to just take care of her and be nice. He did. They went to his bedroom and they watched a movie. He warmed some milk for her, held her hand. She seemed better, but she cried at the end of the movie when the hero realized he was in love all along and was forgiven by his girlfriend. He remembered what his mom had said about hormones and just took her in his arms. She wouldn't stop, he felt overwhelmed. A kiss was the only thing he could think about to make her feel better. And it had. She had opened her eyes with a gasp, and shut them up just as quickly to kiss him back fervently.

They fell into that relationship just like they did everything else. Rey was just 13, Ben almost 18, but he was patient. When she turned 15 they started adding sex into the account. They went at it like rabbits afterwards. But Ben was 20 years old and away most of the time. He wasn't there when her foster dad, _his_ dad, died. He called her that night though, and conforted her as much as he could. She didn't tell him his mom had decided to give her up because she couldn't take care of her and Finn anymore. They were one year short of 18 so they still needed a legal guardian.

Ben came back that week, and she told him she loved him for the first time. She didn't tell him she had to leave, because a woman named Maz Kanata had agreed to take both her and Finn, but she lived in Jakku, so they had to move away.

When she kissed him goodbye at the end of it, he felt she was trying to tell him something but is wasn't after he came back a week later that he realized she was saying goodbye for ever.

Without her, Ben started drifting away, making more room for Kylo Ren.

* * *

Months passed slowly. He had gotten closer to Rey and her ( _their_ ) brothers again, but they wouldn't give him anything. She would tell him about how Poe had become a pilot, how the wedding planning was going, how the grooms had fought over who Rey was going to be maid of honor for, and so on. But nothing, never anything, about her investigation.

He was sort of okay with it though. He could feel more like himself again, sort of.

He knew it wouldn't last, so he enjoyed it while he could. Especially since it would either end with her ending Snoke and discovering his allegiance, or with Snoke giving the order for him to end her. He didn't know which one he dreaded more.

He didn't see it coming though he had been expecting it. He was in a warehouse, they were all there. It was sort of an assembly to decide where to go next. Even Snoke was there. There wasn't a knock on the door. They're wasn't anything. One minute they were voting on some shit, the next there was a loud bang, smoke grenades and one clear shout.

“Police, hand in the air”

_Oh shit._

They are surrounded, nowhere to run, and leading the charge is Jedi Kanata. She is magnificent. She is carrying her saber like a beacon, radiating calm and assurance. Their eyes meet but she hardly aknowledges him. Her sight isset on the Supreme Leader. It almost feels like she knew he was going to be there. It's confirmed when she gives him a warning look. _Play nice, please, or I won't be able to save you_. He doesn't understand, but since she has been saving him ever since they met, he raises his hands and sits on the floor, waiting for the storm to pass.

 

 


	2. I'm bad, Rey. I know.

“Oh my God, Ben Solo, is that you ?”

She couldn't believe her eyes. The main focus of her investigation was there, in Maz' coffee shop, and he was accompagnied by people they suspected of being his main lieutenants. She couldn't believe her luck. Or misfortune.

They exchanged mundanities, she playing the part of a former sister (flame), making him more uncomfortable by the minute. Good, he deserved it.

Yeah, Rey had known for a while that Ben Solo and Kylo Ren were one and the same. Given that she had an informant she trusted with her life, it really wasn't _that_ surprising.

* * *

Of all the kids Han and Leia had sheltered over the years, Poe, Finn and Rey were their favourites, for all kinds of reasons. Mainly, Han enjoyed transmitting his love for flying and tempering with motors to Poe and Rey, Leia enjoyed Finn's constant happiness and they absolutely adored Rey for saving their brooding son and giving him siblings.

Over the years, kids came and went but those three never could leave. Except when it all went to hell, with Han dying, Poe living for Pilot Academy, Ben drifting away, and Finn and Rey being adopted by Maz. Leia knew they were in safe hands, and they kept in touch, especially since Rey enlisted under Luke's tutelage.

Finn had a few rough months though, culminating with his time at the Academy, got into some trouble. That was when he became the most worthy source of information on the Knights of Ren they didn't dream of having. He had _seen_ Kylo Ren, and he knew _exactly_ who he was.

That day, on a shitty street, in the rain, he called Rey. Told her everything, quit the Academy and never looked back.

* * *

It had been so easy to get Luke to let her be the one investigating for IA at Ben's crime scene. They had that kind of understanding ever since they found out who Ben was on the side. She was his best student, they shared a knack for saber fights and interrogations. And they wanted to get Leia her son back.

She knew taking him to Maz's could be a tricky idea, but Finn knew about her investigation and Poe would play along. They were good that way, the three of them.

She threw herself into Poe's arms to give herself some courrage.

Whenever Finn and Poe kissed she could feel a longing tugging at her heart, to be with the one she loved but was so out of touch. So instead of looking at them, she watched Ben. Somehow she knew he felt the same.

She knew everything would come to a head, with time. She had received orders, probably not much different from the ones he had received from Snoke. She needed to get informations out of him by all means necessary, without giving any away.

After that afternoon at the coffee shop, they had a semblance of family. They would talk about the wedding, about their past spent apart. About everything but. She imagined he wanted to stretch time.

* * *

The investigation had spiralled after Finn told them he knew who Kylo Ren was. Rey Kanata already was a precious asset because of her interrogation skills. But with Finn , with her informant, at her side, it became crazy. Finn hadn't been inside the Knights of Ren for a very long time but he had seen a lot. By sheer luck, he had been introduced a week before a big assembly. He met people at that assembly. That was when he had seen Ben. That was when he had discovered Ben was Kylo Ren.

He could pinpoint little guys on photographs. Rey would seek them out, interrogate them and they'd spill the bean. All of them. Brick by brick she dismanteled them until one day, they were ready. They had enough evidence to bring them all down. The raid was set up. Everyone was going to be there. Snoke, Phasma, Hux … and Ben. She didn't know how she felt about that, she'd figure it out somehow.

* * *

They were watching a movie that night. It was one of those nights she could almost forget she was working him. She was a bit worried about that herself.

Poe and Finn had left a while ago, pretending wedding planning. Ben was sitting on one side of the couch, and Rey didn't quite know how but her head was now resting against his chest, his arm arround her and his hand mindlessly carressing her arm.

She didn't remember how it happened. One minute she was watching the movie, the next she was straddled on his lap, kissing him like their lives depended on it.

He took her right there, and again in her bed, and again in her bed, and again, and again, until they couldn't move. It had been a long since they had been so free.

Only problem was, as she lied next to him, she wasn't sure who she was lying next to. He was a ghost of the person she wanted to see. She wanted her childhood friend back. She wanted her lover. She didn't want Kylo Ren. She had to get rid of him quick.

* * *

They come in with a blast.

Ben is in the middle of the room, she hopes he caught her message. She hopes there is enough Ben left in him for him to understand the look she gave him.

He goes down on his knees and she releases a breath she didn't know she was holding.

She's the one who puts cuffs on Snoke's wrists and she escorts him out under clapping and cheers.

She visits Ben in his cell a few hours later, a smile on her lips. Ben can see his uncle Luke in the corner. For the first time in years, he feels free.

She opens the door to his cell and her arms and in a second he's sweeping her of her feets and kissing her, and laughing and it feels like coming home.

“what's happening ?”

_Oh shit_. He had forgotten Hux and Phasma were in ajoining cells. Well he guesses it doesn't matter aymore.

“Your friend over here as been clear of all charges. Guess given he was undercover this all time that helps.”

Ben looks at his uncle, his boss, and goes to hug him too. It's been so long it's a bit awkward, but it's okay.

“Okay, time to go see your mom, she's been waiting for you for a long time”.

_Oh shit_. He thinks, but this time with an internal laugh.

* * *

The plan had been simple, really. When his dad had died, and Rey had left, he had nothing to loose. So Luke sent him to inflitrate the Knights of Ren and it had made him feel good, for a while. He could do bad things in the disguise of Kylo Ren, and yet still save some part of his soul by reporting to Luke once in a while. Not too much. Just enough so that he could book some guys from time to time.

The plan had almost failed when Finn had recognized him. Fortunately, he had reported to Rey, who reported everything directly back to commissioner Skywalker. So Finn and Rey had become part of the plan.

It had been extruciating, working so closely with Rey, until they'd given up and admitted their feelings. It didn't help the situation, but they could make some touches linger while passing information and _that_ helped, a little. Until they had met in Kanata's Kantina.

They hadn't plan it. He was with Hux and Phasma, and they couldn't know he knew her. But she had played her cards well, and now they knew, and now they had an excuse to spend more time together. It made reporting to her about Knights of Ren business so much easier. And they had an excuse to give in to their inner desires.

Though as he laid beside her he felt like lying next to a ghost. She wasn't the girl he loved, not really. She was playing a part in playing a part. They could not be free. Until the raid, of course.

* * *

“Oh my God, Ben Solo, where are you ?” comes the distant voice of a groom, amplified by a microphone.

_Oh shit._ Beside him Rey laughs and stop unbutonning his shirt.

“I guess we shoud have waited for _after_ your best man speech to get in here”

“I guess so, yeah. Don't care, they'll have to do without me”

His lips are on hers again and she starts flumbing with his buttons once more, and stops to get her hands in his hair.

“There you are ! And I found the maid of honor as well !”

_Oh shit_. He really doesn't want it to be his mom that finds them. But she raised both of them, so she knows, always.

Brooding, they rearrange themselves and hand in hand go back to the room where Finn and Poe are waiting for their speeches. Ben left his jacket in the closet but it doesn't matter.

It could be worse, Ben thinks.

And then he remembers he left the ring he always carries arround in his jacket. And his mom is going through his pockets looking for his speech. She finds the box under Rey astonished eyes. She looks like she's about to have a panick attack. This really wasn't how he planned it.

_Oh shit._

  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank God it's over !  
> Thank you for enduring with me, I hope you liked it !  
> Don't hesitate to give me insights on how it could be better !


End file.
